Prosper UK today announced the launch of a new Business Advisory Council, bringing together senior figures from across business and industry to help shape its pro-growth and pro-enterprise policy agenda.

The Council will draw on the experience of business leaders who have led major UK and international companies, shaped national economic debate, and built successful firms across sectors including advanced manufacturing, financial and professional services, consumer brands, technology, energy and the net zero economy.

Restoring growth and raising living standards will require much closer engagement with those who know at first-hand what businesses need to invest, expand, innovate and create jobs. That is why Prosper UK has established its new Business Advisory Council: to help guide its policy agenda and keep it practical, pro-growth and focused on the issues that matter most to businesses and the public.

Prosper UK Business Advisory Council members include:

• Amber Rudd – former Home Secretary and Cabinet Minister, having served in senior roles under three Prime Ministers. She is now a board member of Ryanair plc and Centrica plc and an adviser to Equinor and FGS Global.
• Rupert Soames – Chair of Smith+Nephew, former Group Chief Executive of Serco and former Chief Executive of Aggreko. He also served a two-year term as President of the CBI, completed in December 2025.
• Andy Haldane – President of the British Chambers of Commerce and former Chief Economist at the Bank of England. He previously served as Chief Executive of the RSA.
• James Palmer CBE – Chair of Trustees at the think tank Re:State, Member of the Leadership Council at TheCityUK, senior corporate and M&A lawyer who served as Chair and Senior Partner of Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer.
• Susan Hooper – Non-Executive Director of Uber UK, Moonpig Group and Naked Wines, and co-founder of Chapter Zero. She previously held senior executive roles at Centrica and PepsiCo.
• Andy Palmer – founder and CEO of Palmer Automotive and Palmer Energy Technology, and former CEO of Aston Martin Lagonda and COO of Nissan.
• Ian Hambleton – founder of Biodiversity Units UK and co-founder of Ecologi and Naitiv, with experience building businesses in the climate and nature space.
• Jack Scott – co-founder of DASH Water, one of the UK’s best-known challenger soft drinks brands, and an entrepreneur in the consumer drinks sector.

Susan Hooper, Non-Executive Director of Uber UK, Moonpig Group and Naked Wines, and former senior executive at Centrica and PepsiCo, said:

“I am delighted to join the Prosper UK Advisory Council at such a pivotal moment for our economy. For too long, the environment for British enterprise has lacked the necessary tailwinds for sustained growth. I share Prosper UK’s conviction that re-invigorating dynamism within our business sector is not just an economic goal, but a fundamental requirement for the future prosperity and security of the United Kingdom.”

Ian Hambleton, entrepreneur and founder of Biodiversity Units UK, and co-founder of Ecologi and Naitiv, said:

“I’m delighted at the opportunity to contribute to the Prosper UK Business Advisory Council.

“At a time when the UK needs a more pragmatic, business-positive approach to politics, I believe Prosper UK is well placed to help drive that agenda forward.

“As a serial founder and business owner, I hope to bring a grounded perspective from the small and medium size business community – a sector that plays a vital and often underrepresented role in the UK economy.”

Andy Haldane, President of the British Chambers of Commerce and former Chief Economist at the Bank of England, said: 

“If the UK is to achieve stronger and more durable growth, we need to create the conditions in which businesses can invest, innovate, scale and succeed across all sectors and regions of the country. That means a practical policy agenda focused on restoring dynamism to the UK economy. I am pleased to support Prosper UK’s Business Advisory Council and to contribute to ideas that can strengthen investment, innovation and living standards across the UK.”

Andy Palmer, founder and CEO of Palmer Automotive and Palmer Energy Technology, and former CEO of Aston Martin Lagonda and COO of Nissan, said:

“I am not party political. I was part of Theresa May’s Business Advisory Council and I have also helped the Labour Party formulate their automotive strategy before entering government. I want to see a government that takes business seriously and has the courage to take on the big issues facing us as a country.

“Like many in the UK, I find myself politically homeless. As politics pulls to the extremes, the centre ground is being hollowed out, replaced by short-termism and ideology. What is needed is a more pragmatic, evidence-led approach that balances the needs of the electorate with the realities of driving investment, innovation and growth.

“I am pleased to support Prosper UK’s Business Advisory Council and contribute to shaping a strategy that is grounded in facts and serious about creating the conditions for long-term economic success.”

Rupert Soames, Chair of Smith+Nephew, former Group Chief Executive of Serco and former Chief Executive of Aggreko, and former President of the CBI, said:

“Prosper UK believes in the power of private enterprise, investment and innovation to raise living standards and drive growth across the UK. I’m delighted to join this Business Advisory Council to help develop pro-growth policies grounded in the realities businesses face.”

James Palmer CBE, Chair of Trustees at the think tank Re:State, Member of the Leadership Council at TheCityUK, and senior corporate and M&A lawyer who served as Chair and Senior Partner of Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer, said:

“I am delighted to support Prosper UK in looking more deeply at how to identify and implement the changes required for many more businesses, small and large to thrive and grow in the UK.  

“I believe we need a culture shift to recognise that launching and then scaling businesses to create new or better services or products, and the jobs that go with those, involves taking risks of failure in some cases, to achieve success in others.

“The burdens of well intended but overly complex laws and regulation are a huge cost on our society: while we need fair and proportionate rules to protect socially important outcomes, we cannot regulate everything and expect to create innovation and growth.”

Jack Scott, co-founder of DASH Water and an entrepreneur in the consumer drinks sector, said:

“I’m really pleased to be joining the council. Building and scaling a consumer brand in the UK over the past decade has been hugely rewarding but also at times unnecessarily hard. I’m keen to bring a founder’s perspective on what actually helps businesses grow, and where things can be simpler. There’s a lot we get right in the UK but also a lot we can improve.”